Large enterprises may have a geographically dispersed network of agents to service client requests for information and services. At times, the number of requests for information or service received at a service center exceeds the number of agents available to respond to such requests. Accordingly, callers initiating requests for service often must be placed on hold. While on hold, callers are often provided with a continuous stream of general information, which may include music and announcements. The provision of music is intended to make the wait for an available agent more palatable. Announcements may include information of a general nature that is provided as a service to the caller or they may include advertisements regarding products and services available from the enterprise or affiliated companies. The stream of general information is typically interrupted when a call is routed to an available agent for servicing.
The designers of communication networks for an enterprise typically have data available to them concerning the number of agents that will be associated with a call center, and the typical duration of such calls. However, the number of callers that may be on hold, awaiting service at any one time, is difficult to predict. Furthermore, the continuous nature of the general information that is provided to callers while they are waiting for an available agent makes the sizing of communications channels difficult.
In many enterprises, the bulk of incoming requests for information originate within the United States or the European Union. However, because of high labor costs in the United States and the countries of the European Union, staffing call centers to respond to requests for service generated within those regions can be prohibitively expensive. Accordingly, there is a trend towards locating call centers in low labor cost nations, such as India and the Philippines. In connection with such arrangements, requests for information are typically received at a call center located in the region in which the request for information originated. If no agents are available at that call center, the request for information is forwarded to a remote call center and is placed in a queue maintained by the remote call center. In a typical implementation, music and announcements are provided by the remote call center to the caller while the caller is awaiting service. This situation requires the transmission of a continuous stream of data over long distances, and can result in the consumption of significant amounts of communication channel bandwidth. In addition, it is typically desirable to synchronize the music and announcements provided by the various call centers associated with an enterprise. However, the synchronization of such general information among a number of distantly located call centers can pose a significant administrative burden.
Still other systems delay the routing of a call to remote call centers. Such systems instead create tokens that are distributed to each remote call center. In such systems, a call is not routed to a remote system until notification is received from a remote system indicating that the remote call center is able to service the call. However, such systems are disadvantageous because they do not allow for the use of sophisticated features for handling calls and for routing calls to particular agents that might otherwise be available after responsibility for a call has been assigned to a particular call center.
For the reasons set forth above, there is a need for a method and apparatus that efficiently utilizes communication channel bandwidth in connection with geographically dispersed enterprises. In addition, there is a need for a method and an apparatus for providing general information after a call has been assigned to a particular service center for routing to an agent that is easily administered.